Effect of Low-Level Laser Therapy on Candida albicans Growth in Patients with Denture Stomatitis.

Maver-Biscanin M, Mravak-Stipetic M, Jerolimov V. Photomed Laser Surg. 2005 Jun;23(3):328-32. Department of Prosthodontics, Clinical Hospital Centre, Zagreb, Croatia.

J Clin Laser Med Surg. 2003 Dec;21(6):363-7.

Objective: The purpose of our report is to present the effect of low-level laser therapy on Candida albicans growth and palatal inflammation in two patients with denture stomatitis.
Background Data: The most common oral mucosal disorder in denture wearers is denture stomatitis, a condition that is usually associated with the presence of the yeast Candida albicans. Different treatment methods have been suggested to treat this symptom, none of which is proven to be absolutely effective.
Methods: Two denture-wearing patients, both with palatal inflammation diagnosed as Newton type II denture stomatitis were treated with low-power semiconductor diode laser (BTL-2000, Prague, Czech Republic) at different wavelengths (685 and 830 nm) for 5 d consecutively. In both patients, palatal mucosa and acrylic denture base were irradiated in noncontact mode (probe distance of 0.5 cm from irradiated area) with different exposure times-5 min (830 nm, 3.0 J/cm(2), 60 mW) and 10 min (685 nm, 3.0 J/cm(2), 30 mW). The effect of laser light on fungal growth in vivo was evaluated after the final treatment using the swab method and semiquantitative estimation of Candida albicans colonies growth on agar plates. The severity of inflammation was evaluated using clinical criteria.
Results: After lowlevel laser treatment, the reduction of yeast colonies on the agar plates was observed and palatal inflammation was diminished.
Conclusion: LLLT is effective in the treatment of denture stomatitis. Further placebo controlled studies are in progress.

Usefulness of low-level laser for control of painful stomatitis in patients with hand-foot-and-mouth disease.

Toida M, Watanabe F, Goto K, Shibata T. Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Sciences, Gifu University School of Medicine, Gifu, Japan. toida@cc.gifu-u.ac.jp

Eur J Haematol. 2004 Mar;72(3):222-4.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) for the control of painful stomatitis in patients with hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD).
BACKGROUND DATA: LLLT has been successfully applied to various painful oral mucosal diseases, although there have been few reports on LLLT for HFMD patients.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Through a randomized double-blind placebo controlled trial, the painful period of HFMD stomatitis was compared between the LLLT group (n=11) and the placebo LLLT one (n=9), which had similar clinical backgrounds. The LLLT parameters supplied were as follows: wavelength of 830 nm, power of 30 mW, frequency of 30 Hz, and energy output of 1.1 J/cm2. Acceptability and safety of the treatment were also evaluated.
RESULTS: The painful period was shorter in the LLLT group (4.0 +/- 1.3 days) than in the placebo LLLT one (6.7 +/- 1.6 days) with a statistically significant difference (p < 0.005). The treatment was judged acceptable for 90.0% (18 of 20) of patients. No adverse events were observed in any cases.
CONCLUSION: LLLT is a useful method to control HFMD stomatitis by shortening the painful period, with its high acceptability and lack of adverse events.